YOUNG Bulldog Andrejs Everitt is feeling fit and focused following a stint of soul-searching that helped him rediscover his passion for the game.

Everitt, 19, endured a difficult second year at Whitten Oval with injuries and form restricting him to just nine senior games after his debut season of huge promise.

He claimed the club's best first-year player award at the end of 2007 and flew into the following year with expectations of exceeding that form.

However, an injury-riddled pre-season got his year off to a disappointing start and Everitt started battling personal demons.

"It wasn't just the interrupted pre-season that caused the disappointing year; it was a bit of mental stuff as well. I wasn't as tough as I should have been," he told westernbulldogs.com.au.

"It was because I'd had a few injuries and I wasn't getting fit enough. When I did my knee I was pretty low, but it's all good now.

"I just wasn't really motivated enough with training and stuff, but this year it's changed dramatically.

"Rocket (coach Rodney Eade) gave me a bit of a spray at the end of the year, saying it wasn't what he expected of me and that shook me up a bit and I wanted to prove a lot after that.

"He said that my intensity and my enthusiasm around the club wasn't the best and that I had to pick that up."

This year, Everitt was determined to get the pre-season off on the right foot. He shelved plans to spend the immediate post-season relaxing and hit the track with a handful of his teammates.

"There were a few of us; me, Dale Morris, Stephen Tiller, Cam Wight and Easton Wood, we were just down here before we went on our footy trip almost every day, doing a bit more running," he said.

"It was really good and all those boys helped me out a lot.

"This is the fittest I've felt in a long time, which is really good."

With the exception of a slightly sore shin, Everitt has had an uneventful pre-season on the injury front and is raring for 2009 to commence.

"That's the only niggle I've had, which has been pretty good," he said, of the heavily-iced shin.

"Things are going pretty good.

"Last year I had a bit of an interrupted pre-season and I had a few injuries, but this year doing the off-season training with some of the boys has me running really well at the moment.

"I'm hoping for a big year. This year I was pretty disappointed with how I went, so I'm hoping this year will be a lot better for myself and the team as well."